one of the eminent Companions. He kept out of the civil strife and carried a wooden sword. He died in Madinah in 43 AH, according to the view held by the majority, and Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam led the funeral prayer over him. He transmitted many reports from the Prophet ﷺ. Muḥammad ibn Saʿd relates—on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Madāʾinī with his chains—that Muḥammad ibn Maslamah was the one who wrote a deed for the delegation of Mahrah (1) at the order of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Among them, may Allah be pleased with him, is Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān Ṣakhr ibn Ḥarb ibn Umayyah al-Umawī; his biography will be given when we reach the time of his rule, God willing. Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj (2) lists him among the Prophet’s scribes. Muslim also records in his Ṣaḥīḥ (3)—through the isnād of ʿIkrimah ibn ʿAmmār, from Abū Zumayl Simāk ibn al-Walīd, from Ibn ʿAbbās—that Abū Sufyān said:
“O Messenger of Allah, grant me three requests.”
He replied, “Yes.”
He said, “Appoint me so that I may fight the unbelievers just as I used to fight the Muslims.”
He replied, “Yes.”
He said, “And make Muʿāwiyah your scribe who writes in your presence.”
He replied, “Yes.” … and the remainder of the report follows.
I have set aside a separate treatise for this ḥadīth because it also contains mention of his asking the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to marry Umm Ḥabībah. What is reliably preserved, however, is the appointment of Abū Sufyān and his entrusting Muʿāwiyah with the office of writing before him—may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him—and this point is unanimously agreed upon.
As for the ḥadīth that the ḥāfiẓ Ibn ʿAsākir cites in his History (5) in Muʿāwiyah’s biography—related to us by Abū Ghālib ibn al-Bannāʾ, who said: Abū Muḥammad al-Jawharī informed us; Abū ʿAlī Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-ʿAṭashī narrated to us; Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Būrānī narrated to us; al-Sarrī ibn ʿĀṣim narrated to us; al-Ḥasan ibn Ziyād narrated to us, from al-Qāsim ibn Bahrām, from Abū al-Zubayr, from Jābir—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ consulted Gabriel about appointing Muʿāwiyah as a scribe, and Gabriel replied, “Appoint him, for he is trustworthy”: this is a strange report, indeed a repudiated one.
That al-Sarrī ibn ʿĀṣim is Abū ʿĀṣim al-Hamadhānī, who tutored al-Muʿtazz bi-Llāh; Ibn Khirāsh branded him a liar in ḥadīth. Ibn Ḥibbān (6) and Ibn ʿAdī (7) said he used to steal ḥadīths. Ibn Ḥibbān added, “He elevates halted reports to prophetic ones; it is impermissible to rely on him.” Al-Dāraquṭnī (8) said, “He is weak in ḥadīth.” As for his shaykh, al-Ḥasan ibn Ziyād—if he is al-Luʾluʾī—more than one leading scholar abandoned him and many openly declared him a liar; if he is someone else, then he is unknown both as to identity and standing.